2011 Kia Picanto revealed

The 2011 Kia Picanto will debut at Geneva 2011

There are plenty of cheap cars on the market. And then there’s the Kia Picanto. Which has nothing to greatly recommend it apart from the fact that you can have one brand new from around £7k. Which is about the same money as a carbon fibre boot liner on a 458. Bargain basement motoring.

But, as it’s would have been impossible to miss in the last year or two, Korea is rapidly becoming the new Japan. No, not because there seems every chance there’ll be a big mushroom cloud hovering over the Korean Peninsula any time soon, but because Korea – in the shape of Hyundai and Kia – are starting to produce extremely capable and stylish cars which offer more bang for your buck than many from established car makers in the West (and, I suppose, we should say East as well).

So we should not dismiss the 2011 Kia Picanto – first cousin to the Hyundai i10 – on the grounds that its only virtue is its cheapness, as it seems highly likely the 2011 Picanto will be far more sophisticated than the current model. It’s certainly better looking – taking on as it has Kia’s latest design language – and it’s set to get all new 1.0 and 1.2 litre engines to replace the woeful 60bhp excuses in the current model.

Kia teased the 2011 Picanto last month, but thankfully the tease couldn’t go on too long as the new Kia Picanto is due to make a bow at the Geneva Motor Show in March before going on sale by Easter in the UK. Prices will nudge up a bit, but we expect to see them start from around £7,495.

Which is still bargain basement motoring. Just rather more stylish than before.

By Cars UK